Do we want to become less dependent on our smartphones?

2/5/2018

Facebook, Snapchat, Whatsapp... We have our smartphones with us everywhere and check our apps all the time. In 2018, it has become almost impossible to be without one. The constant influx of information via our smartphones even leads to the so-called FOMO syndrome, which, in turn, causes counter-reactions, such as Tournée Minérale for smartphones. We investigated what the love for the smartphone is like in Belgium and whether we would still want to live without it.

We love our smartphone

It seems clear: Belgians are attached to their smartphones. Most of them (81%) have one in their possession, whereby the younger people (up to 40 years old) without a smartphone is an absolute exception. But, the older generation has also given in to the device: 60% of people 65 years and older have found their way to the smartphone. In addition, slightly more women than men seem to have a smartphone, in which the males in general feel less dependent on the smartphone than the females (22% compared to 35%).

What do we use our smartphone for?

Messages

The message apps are particularly popular among young people: almost 1 in 10 young people send more than 40 messages via SMS, WhatsApp, iMessage or Messenger per day, while the average sends up to 5 messages per day.

Apps

Facebook, e-mail and banking apps are the most used apps. Half of those who have Facebook on their smartphone go through their Facebook feed daily. Nearly half of the young people use Instagram once or more per day and Snapchat also has many young fans with an approximate of 40% very frequent users. E-mails are also regularly checked: 40% of those who check their e-mails on their phones (60%) do this minimum once a day. The large half uses their smartphone to take care of their banking, of which 12% do this on a daily basis.

LinkedIn, sports apps and Swarm - an app that allows you to share your location with friends - are less popular and are used very little. There is a general less usage of apps in Wallonia compared to Flanders.

Farewell to the smartphone?

In general, 1 in 3 considers himself addicted to his mobile phone. This even goes up to nearly 50% among the young people up to 40 years old. People are hereby slightly more dependent in Brussels and Wallonia than in Flanders. 1 out of 10 also indicates to be open to an initiative in which personal tips are given via websites and apps to become less dependent on one’s smartphone. Moreover, with some additional information, almost 1 in 3 would already like to participate in such an action. In this case, the young people are more enthusiastic than the group of 65 and older. Only 14% of this generation would participate after some additional information, while this amounted to 40% in the case of the younger people.

It seems, therefore, that we would not give away our beloved smartphone just like that, but that we would like to be able to leave that thing to one side more often. This is thus good news for initiatives such as Tournée Minérale for smartphones.